The Fighter
by BigTimeRusherr13
Summary: It's his last fight. He has to win. He has to go home to marry the man he loves. He never even saw the punch coming. Lovers don't always win but... (Slash! James/Carlos SongFic OneShot: Yes the summery sucks but I assure you, the story is better, I swear!)


**Hellooooo peopleys! Okay, so I've had this idea for a one shot in my head for a while, since I heard the song "The fighter" by The Fray! It's a really amazing song, I suggest you listen to it! So yeah, this story came from that song and I hope you guys like it:D **

**Oh and before anyone corrects me, yes I know boxing matches are usually 12 rounds and last three minutes but if I did it like that, it would be waaaaaaaaaaaayyy too long so I'm just doing two rounds that last three minutes.**

**Okay, this is where I'm gonna sound really pathetic and desperate! But I have two Christmas stories going on called **Twelve Days of Christmas **and **the Nutcracker **and they don't seem to be very popular and it would really mean a lot if you guys would go check them out? Please? Yes I know...I sound pathetic *sighs*...So do it out of pity? Pwease?:(**

**Now, on with the one shot...**

…

"**What breaks your bones is not the load you're carrying. What breaks you down is all in how you carry."**

…

Carlos watched as James had his wrists wrapped in hand-wraps by his coach, Logan. The hand-wraps were for protection. They avoided canvas burn and helped throw punches correctly. Tonight, James was to fight the brutal Jett Stetson. He was famous for his lack of mercy. He punched harder than anyone and has sent a few dozen men to the hospital for being so savage.

This was the first time James had ever took him on. Sure, he was an excellent boxer, won morefights than he lost. But Carlos couldn't help but be scared for the man he loved. It was just last week when Stetson put a guy in a coma. James promised this would be his last fight. He promised Carlos on the night of their engagement that he would put away his gloves for good. He wasn't going to give up boxing completely, they agreed that after their honeymoon, he could takeover the coaching position for a new fighter, Kendall Knight.

But Carlos wanted it to end four days ago when a boxer a few years older than James -Beau, his name was- punched three of his teeth out. Luckily, he had gotten them fixed the next day. Of course, Carlos had known what he was getting himself into when he agreed to go on that first date two and a half years ago. But the more fights James won and the more famous he became, the more desperate others were to beat him so the more ferocious they were to him.

It broke Carlos' heart every time he would care for James' wounds after a big fight. And James saw that so he agreed to retire from boxing after he beats the undefeated Jett Stetson. That was his final boxing goal, to beat him and he wasn't giving up until he did.

"There you go." Logan said as he finished wrapping James' wrists.

"Thanks." James said with a grateful smile.

"Okay, let's see how they are." Logan slipped the boxing pads on his hands and stood up, going to the centre of the room so they would have space. James followed and stood in position. "I want twenty hits. Ten to each hand." Nodding, James did as he was told, punching the pads harder with each hit. "Six more." Logan demanded when he was on his nineteenth hit. James loved his coach, he pushed him to be the best he could be and it was because of him that James was as famous as he was. He was going to miss Logan as his coach. "Okay, I think you're ready for tonight."

"You think so?" James asked, breathless as he grabbed a bottle of water from the table and took a sip.

"I know so." Logan said with a fond smile, taking the pads off his hands. "You're going to go out with style."

"Thanks coach." James said, smiling. "For everything." Logan only nodded in response and gave him a pat on the shoulder. He looked over the boxer's shoulder and saw Carlos standing in the corner.

"I think you need to go talk to him." Logan advised. James looked over his shoulder and quickly walked towards his lover.

"Carlos, are you okay?" He asked when he noticed his tear filled brown eyes that were usually filled with happiness.

"Don't go." Carlos whispered and it broke James' heart to see him like this. "Please. W-What if something happens? You could get hurt, like seriously hurt."

"I know." James quickly said as he took his fiancé's hand in his when he started sputtering the beginning of words, not finishing them. "I know." He said again when Carlos took a deep breath and stayed silent. "But I can't back out of my last fight. I just can't."

"Please." Carlos begged through the lump in his throat. He wasn't going to cry, not today.

"Just this one last time. I swear, you'll still be mine." James reassured, bringing Carlos' hand -which so happened to be the left one- to his lips and kissed the engagement ring on his finger softly.

"Promise me you'll come home tonight." Carlos demanded, looking into the hazel eyes he has grown to love in the last couple of years. "Promise me that in three weeks, you're going to be standing at that alter, that we're going to get that big house outside the city, that we're going to have kids and grand-kids, that we're going to grow old together and I'm going to wake up every morning for the rest of my life to see you there, right next to me. Promise me that."

James brought his free hand behind his back, careful Carlos couldn't see it and crossed his fingers. "I promise you." He said, adding a kiss to his ring again. He felt guilty for practically lying to Carlos, the man he loved. But he couldn't promise that, he couldn't promise that he would be going home tonight. Jett was a dirty fighter and anything could happen tonight.

Carlos managed a small smile and grabbed the nap of James' neck to bring him down into a kiss. Their lips moved together desperately and James held onto his lover as tight as he could, for maybe the last time in a long time. Pulling apart for air, the fighter looked down at Carlos with sad eyes.

"James, it's time to go." Logan said, coming up behind him. James nodded before he lifts his hand and softly stroked Carlos' cheek with the back of his fingers. One last touch.

And then he was gone.

Everything seemed to go in fast motion. When Logan put the gloves on James and wrapped them up, when they all left the small white room to go out into the stadium where there were thousands of screaming fans ready for the most talked about fight in weeks. Carlos' breath quickened when he saw how many people were here to support Jett not James. He was scared, terrified even. But he had James' promise for reassurance. James never broke a promise. Never.

As they approached the ring, Carlos took James' crystal blue robe off for him because with the gloves on, he couldn't do it himself. James loved this robe. He had quite a few but this one was his favourite because it had "DIAMOND" -his last name- written across the back with a silver diamond underneath.

James turned around and gave a quick kiss to Carlos' lips. The Latino smiled before saying "Kick his ass, Jamie." The boxer smiled and gave him another kiss before turning and climbing in the ring. They did that before every fight.

Carlos watched Logan give James a pep talk and put in his mouth guard as he went to sit on one of the metal chairs, ready to watch his lover's last fight. Jett was already in his corner. He wasn't that big, sure he had some muscle but he wasn't any bigger than James. But Carlos knew not to underestimate him because no one believed he would be a good fighter at first and now look him; famous for being undefeated. But James was going to beat him, he promised.

The referee entered the ring and introduced the fight. The crowd was going crazy and Carlos was getting nervous. Millions of people around the world were watching this live on pay-per-view right now and anything could happen. Logan climbed out of the ring and came to sit on the seat on the seat next to Carlos.

"He's going to be okay, right Logan?" He asked, needing the reassurance now more than ever.

"He's going to be fine! Better than that, he's going to kick ass." Logan said, staying as confident as ever. Carlos nodded, that was all he needed to hear.

The referee brought the two fighters to the centre of the ring before giving them their instructions. They bumped their gloves together before going back to their corners and the ref took a step back. The bell was heard and the fight started.

James was the first to throw a punch but Jett had dodged it and before he even had the chance to bring his arm back, Jett punched him in the face hard.

"What the hell!" Carlos screamed as he stood up. He always got like this during a fight, screaming at James' opponent out of furry. He hated seeing his man get hurt.

Carlos could see James getting frustrated. He had been hit more than enough times and was looking bad whereas Jett looked untouched. He swung with all his might, his hair was damp with sweat and his nose was bleeding. Logan had gone to yell at the ref, telling him to stop the fight but he refused because James wasn't down yet. But he was stubborn, he wasn't going to go down any time soon. He swung again and this time, he got Jett in the nose.

"Kick his ass!" Carlos screamed, feeling a little better when he saw the blood coming from Jett's nose. But his eyes darkened with fury. He swung faster and harder, James tried to dodge them and to punch back but he was too weak.

He never even saw the swing.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion as Carlos screamed James' name as he hit the floor with a thud. Everyone was screaming now and Logan and a few members of the team were in the ring in seconds, pulling James up. He was conscious. _Thank god, _Carlos thought as they helped him out of the ring. Carlos followed as they took him back to the white room they were at before. They sat James on a chair and a doctor was there in seconds to clean him up and see to his easier wounds.

"You're not going back out there." He simply stated when the doctor put his things away and left the room. James looked terrible, for once. His eye was swollen shut already, his lip was split and his nose was misshapen.

"We'll give you two a minute." Logan said as he unwrapped James' gloves and slipped them off. James and Carlos locked eyes as the team quickly scurried out of the room.

"You're not going back out there." Carlos repeated when they heard the door close.

"Yes, I am." James said. He sounding tired- exhausted even. He was in no state to fight.

"James, look at you! _Look at you!_ He's going to kill you if you go back out there." Carlos yelled but he didn't mean to yell. He was just scared.

"No he's not. I'm going to beat him." James quietly said.

"Were you not apart of the fight I just witnessed?" Carlos yelled before going on a rant about how stupid James was being for wanting to go out there after what just happened. James stood up with a groan and pulled Carlos close, wrapping his arms around him tight. The Latino silenced immediately and wrapped his arms around his lover's waist. He was hot and covered in sweat but Carlos wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here. "Please don't go." Carlos begged, allowing himself to cry.

"I have to." James said through the lump in his throat. He blinked back his tears and kissed the crown of Carlos head. "If I don't go back out there, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."

"But I love you." Carlos cried, nuzzling into James' chest.

"I love you too." James choked, allowing a lone tear to fall. "But this is something I have to do."

Carlos didn't want to admit it but he was right. James was big on pride and he wasn't going to go down when he had the strength to fight back. His pride was one of the things Carlos loves about him... So he had to let him go.

"You're not coming home tonight, are you?" Carlos asked as he tightened his hold on the boxer.

"No, I'm not." He whispered, burying his face in the Latino's hair and taking in his scent.

"But you promised."

"I crossed my fingers." Carlos let out a sob at the words and it broke James' heart. It was his fault that he was doing this to Carlos, it was all his fault. And this wasn't even the first time he held him while he cried for reasons like this, but this was the worst case. "You deserve someone so much better."

"You're already the best that I can have." Carlos cried, it sounded muffled against James' chest.

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"But I'm-"

"Just shut up." Carlos pulled away from the embrace to look up James. The fighter let his hands slid down Carlos' arms and stopped at his finger tips, keeping his eyes locked on the brown eyes staring at him with so much love and fright. "I love you."

"I love you." James said before Carlos leaned up on his toes and kissed his trembling lips.

"It's time to go, James." Logan said as he came into the room. James pulled away from the kiss and looked down at his lover.

Carlos nodded and said "Kick his ass, Jamie."

They left the white room and went back to the stadium. Logan helped put James' gloves back on and wrapped them up before putting the mouth guard in. They both climbed into the ring and the coach gave him one last pep talk before climbing out and sitting in the metal chairs. Carlos stood over the edge of the ring, just outside the ropes.

"I'm going to promise you something." Carlos said into James' ear as he rubbed his shoulders. "And look, fingers aren't crossed."

"Don't promise me anything, Carlos."

Ignoring him, Carlos continued. "I promise you that later tonight, we're going to be in bed, watching Chelsea Lately while eating an after-fight snack. Just like we always do."

James didn't have a chance to respond because the referee had stepped into the ring, ready to start the fight. Carlos jumped off the edge and went to sit with Logan.

"What did you tell him?" The coach asked, noticing the sudden determined look in James' eyes.

"I made a promise." Carlos simply said as the bell rang and the fight began. Without hesitation, James swung and punched Jett in the gut before swinging again and hitting his cheek. Carlos could have sworn he saw a tooth fly. "You can do it, James!" Carlos yelled as he stood up. Logan, standing next to him, was screaming his support, telling him where to hit as if James could hear him.

Jett got a few punches in but James didn't let them effect him, he only hit back twice as hard. Two and a half minutes into the round and James had the upper hand, Jett was struggling to keep himself up but he refused to go down.

"Thirty seconds! James, you can do it! Finish him!" Carlos screamed, not caring how horrible those words sounded because all he cared about was that James was coming home with him tonight.

Jett swung and hit James hard in the already broken nose. He stood back, trying to ignore the pain all over his face. Fifteen seconds to win. James looked over at Carlos and saw how desperate he was for him to win.

"_I love you._" Carlos mouthed when he caughtJames looking at him. That was all the boxer needed and he was back in the game. He counted down the seconds in his head as he fought Jett, they were both in it to win it and it was anyone's game until, on the last two seconds, James threw a punch so hard that Jett fell to the ground. The bell rang and in seconds the ref had grabbed James' wrist and holding it in the air, showing the winner off.

Carlos and the team climbed into the ring, ready to congratulate their winning boxer. James didn't even have a minute to breathe before Carlos' arms were around his neck and he was pulled into a kiss that hurt his cut lip. But he didn't care because he won!

"You're coming home." Carlos whispered.

"Yeah, I am."

"You know that saying "Lovers don't always win"?" Carlos asked suddenly, ignoring all the noise surrounding them. Honestly, those people weren't there any more. Well, in Carlos and James' minds they weren't.

"Yeah?"

"We won." Carlos said, before bringing him down for another kiss.

**Yaaaaaay they won:D I don't know why this took me so long to doooo! It's not even that long! *Sigh* Well, review and tell me whatcha think! Will mean a lot:D**

**And, I dont mean to ask again but I kinda do..Anyway, go read my Christmas stories for me? Please?**


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